“Societal and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology”: Meanings, Interest Groups, and Social Dynamics

The paper first analyzes the different meanings of and interests in “societal and ethical implications of nanotechnology” by science fiction authors, scientists and engineers, policy makers and science managers, business people, transhumanists, the media, and cultural and social scientists. Based on the mutual semantic impact among these groups, a dynamical model of the debate on “societal and ethical implications of nanotechnology” is developed and subjected to social network analysis for identifying the semantic leaders and mediators in the debate. I conclude from this analysis and from the cultural history of science that the most likely impact of nanotechnology on society in the near future is a strong anti-scientific movement.